Former player of the Ukrainian national team Ivan Hetzko shared his expectations for today’s confrontation of Unaï Melgosa’s team with the Netherlands in the group stage of the European U21 Championship in Slovakia:
Ivan Hetzko— I am a little worried that in the matches played in Slovakia, the performance of the Ukrainian team has had different halves. However, thanks to the corrected aim of the Finns, we managed to win. Let’s hope that we will play, as they say, in one breath with the Netherlands.
— But after the defeat at the start against the Danes, we got ourselves into a difficult position.
— Our national team often finds itself in the same situation, by the way. It is likely that it’s all in our mentality; we lacked a bit of concentration and perhaps there was some overestimation of our strength.
— For reaching the quarter-finals, the Ukrainians just need to take one step in their confrontation with the Netherlands. Will our footballers be able to not overheat?
— Perhaps this is beneficial for our team, which acts more effectively as a second number. Because, in my opinion, the Ukrainians outpace other participants in their group in speed and intensity. Therefore, we need to look for a chance today in the transitional phase and, with skillful selection and preemptive play, make it difficult for the opponent to control the ball.
— Our team’s favorite tactical scheme is 4−1−4−1, but today due to suspension, the defensive midfielder Brazhko will not be able to assist.
— You know, there are no irreplaceable players. I am convinced that manager Unaï Melgosa will make the right choice, especially since the Ukrainians have a long bench of substitutes. The main thing is that the attitude is maximized. I tend to believe that our guys will not lose.
Andriy Pysarenko
